Oaken Financial Reviews 296

Good service, better than average for sure.
Online access, registration and communication was good. Funds transfer from and back to my account was seamless with no issues. Well done.

I appreciated the ease of opening an online account, funding it and then subsequently purchasing a GIC. I also like the user-friendliness of the online platform.

- happy once account was opened but was challenging to open. simplifiying would be great with more focus on customer service when opening. Had to call back numerous times for update

I was pleasantly surprised that I received a thank you reward card on my birthday. Wow. Totally unexpected but very much appreciated.
Great interest rates and customer service experience is very good.

My family banks with Oaken. We own products from savings accounts, GICs, TFSAs and RRSPs. We used to love Oaken and tell our friends all about you! Not sure what is happening at Oaken lately but your services have deteriorated so much that we are beginning to lose any and all confidence in your bank.

Below are some examples of our family's collective experience:

1) Incompetence of some agents at your call center. It has happened on three separate occasions over the last month where your agents would give us incorrect advice or fail to execute our direction. These errors have in turn led to confusions, frustrations and many follow-up phone calls. Some agents appear to have been poorly trained and have little knowledge (if any) on Oaken operations. As customers, it is scary for us to think that the agents of our bank don't know what they are doing.

2) Lack of professionalism of some call center agents. On one occasion this week, we called to inquire about the status of an application. The agent answered the call with such sleepy voice that one couldn't help but thinking they had just rolled out of bed! The person was inpatient and rude, making me feel bad for having "bothered" him at all.

3) The Oaken Digital (online) is very messed up! For example, when we look at our Savings Account, the balances would go haywire one day, get fixed the next day, and then be downright wrong (!) another day.

In conclusion, please take care of your call center agents (e.g., adequate training and wellness check) to help them do a good job. Please also ensure Oaken Digital functions properly. When we look at WRONG balances in our Oaken accounts online, we start to wonder what else is going on?

Thank you.

Pros:
-Decent rates
-Good customer service so far

Cons:
-Online access and features just average
-Creating GICs is a clunky and convoluted process
-Digital security needs improvement; implement Two Factor Authenitcation

Everything works as promised and customer service over the phone and the webchat are great.
However the website needs more functionality such as to cash Oaken GIC and deposit it in my Oaken savings account, this way I would not need a phone call to have this done.

Fiona was exceptional. Very detailed, knowledgeable and friendly.

I needed additional instructions to complete my account opening and I contacted a service representative who was very kind and helpful. I felt Client service was important to Oaken. I felt great after that call, because I spoke with a real person who cared.

All I have done so far is sign up, move some money in, and am pending some GIC choices. So not a lot to rate, but the routine was efficient, clear, and not cumbersome. Since the reason I came to Oaken was for good GIC investment, coming from other online banks who have moved away from that market and are flogging credit cards and whatever else they can patch in.
I want simply a savings and GIC bank, and that means good interest rates, and not too much in the way of tricks and marketing.

good rates
easy online and phone app

I think the website is friendly and easy to use.
I had several exchanges on the phone and was quite satisfied with the experience.

And I love the rates and rate change alerts
My brick and mortar bank should want to know why I am transferring so much to Oaken

efficient service while transferring funds from our other bank. Really good support from our financial advisor Fiona in Oaken Vancouver office. Hardly any bureaucratic papaerwork.

We were switching our investment from Achieva to Oaken because our your higher interest rate. Not happy about the process. Much too much time waiting to talk to a customer representative, having problem understanding what they were saying, some of the representative were not knowledgeable and gave us wrong information. We found out because we phoned again and talked to someone else. Not sure if we will transfer more money.

Jocelyne

I invested with Oaken Financial because they have the best interest rates.

Easy to open saving account online and the higher rate in canada at 1.32 :) The service online is excellent too

The difficulty to speak to a service rep was extremely long and frustrating. The whole process to set up an account was excruciatingly painful

Saw online that Oaken Financial has the best interest rates compared to banks, so when I wanted to keep a large about of cash aside in order to purchase a property (after I sold my house), I moved the money to Oaken.
Called and the account was set up. They only setback was that I had to mail in a cheque. That of course took time.

That standard still exists. Not sure why I can transfer money from Oaken to my bank, but cannot send money from bank to Oaken.

Personal service, Quick turnover